If you can't beat them...

Note: This post was originally published on March 18, 2014 and has been updated with new information.

If you can’t beat them…

Employers are gearing up for their next big challenge and it’s not health care or minimum wage. It is the NCAA basketball tournament. March madness is about to tear through the country and the business world. Every year businesses struggle with the dilemma of keeping productivity at optimum levels while not dampening morale. In recent years, companies have experienced another problem…clogged networks caused by streaming videos.

Most games tip off in the middle of the work day. A 2014 MSN survey said that 86% of those polled said they plan on devoting some of their work day to the tournament. Turner Sports, which operates the NCAA website, said that visitors who watched games online averaged one hour and 51 minutes of open stream time. For unprepared companies the demand on networks can be strenuous, at the least. Responding to the expected demand, companies are better planning for late March and staffing their IT departments.

Over 10.7 million people watched the tournament in 2013, the highest since 1994.  A Challenger, Gray & Christmas study revealed that 50 million Americans participate in some sort of March Madness office pool. Further, companies stand to lose $1.2 billion for every unproductive work hour in the first week of the tournament. On the flipside, Quicken Loans is offering a billion dollar prize for the submission of a perfect bracket.

…Join them

Employees will find a way to watch, if not through the office network, then through their personal phones and tablets. Some who are wary of snooping supervisors have installed apps that have “boss” buttons, which quickly turns the image into a spreadsheet. Blocking websites and strictly enforcing policies may not be the best for morale. Society for Human Resource Management revealed that human resource professionals found that morale went up with office sponsored pools. Experts are saying that companies should embrace this time of year. Offer office pools or challenges. Provide televisions to discourage streaming.

You can’t fight it. Employees are going to watch games, check scores and stats, and compete in pools. What is really going to affect morale and productivity is how your business handles it.

March Madness March 2013

March madness?

March madness has descended upon us once again. Brackets are being completed and water cooler talk turns to basketball. Research companies spend millions conducting surveys on how much productivity is loss in the workplace due the NCAA tournament. Some companies buy into the fears and direct IT departments to monitor and restrict network time and strictly enforce company policies.

Modis, an IT recruiting company conducted a survey regarding the burden put on IT professionals. The survey found that 42% of IT professionals responded that March Madness historically impacts their networks. 37% reported a network slow down and 34% reported that networks are essentially shut down during the tournament. Expecting increase in network burden, 65% of the survey’s respondents said that their IT departments took some action to slow or hinder streaming video. Jack Cullen, president of Modis said of March Madness time, “It’s an event that boosts office morale and builds camaraderie for many American workers, but it can put a significant burden on office networks, and the IT professionals responsible for maintaining them.”

Employees watching games is a burden to computer networks, but how does March Madness affect worker productivity?  Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, Inc. is one of the most popular research companies when it comes to tracking worker productivity during March Madness. The results of the Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, Inc. survey for 2012 reported that 2.5 million workers spend 90 minutes a day watching basketball. With employers paying distracted workers some $175 million over the first full days of the tournament. Further distraction comes prior to the tournament while workers spend time completing brackets.

Statistics are showing hours and dollars loss, but what is not measured is how many workers who put in extra time or multi-task to make up for the loss time. With the prevalence of streaming video, workers are able to watch games from their desks while completing other tasks, either through company computers or personal devices.

Experts concede to the burden on networks, but also agree that March Madness builds worker morale and camaraderie. While some companies go out of their way to impose tighter restrictions, some embrace the time.  To help ease network traffic, some companies install TVs in break rooms or have events and their own brackets or pools.

Whatever your position on this time known as March Madness, employers have to balance protecting their networks while at the same time ensuring productivity meets standards while not affecting worker morale. Good luck.

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